Larb Gai — Thai Minced Chicken Salad

Name: Larb Gai — Thai Minced Chicken Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 3 Tbsp raw jasmine rice; 1.5 lb ground chicken thigh (or thighs pulsed in food processor); 3 Tbsp fish sauce; 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice (2–3 limes); 1 tsp palm sugar or light brown sugar; 1½ tsp dried chili flakes; 3 shallots, very thinly sliced; large handful fresh mint leaves; large handful fresh cilantro; 4 scallions, sliced; — butter lettuce or cabbage leaves; — sliced cucumber; — lime wedges

Classic Isaan-style minced chicken salad with toasted rice powder, fish sauce, lime, shallots, and fresh herbs. Served at room temperature in lettuce cups. High protein, very low saturated fat.

ThaiServes 435mentree

Servings4

Ingredients

Toasted Rice Powder

3 Tbsp raw jasmine rice

Chicken

1.5 lb ground chicken thigh (or thighs pulsed in food processor)

Dressing

3 Tbsp fish sauce

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice (2–3 limes)

1 tsp palm sugar or light brown sugar

1½ tsp dried chili flakes

Herbs & Aromatics

3 shallots, very thinly sliced

large handful fresh mint leaves

large handful fresh cilantro

4 scallions, sliced

To Serve

— butter lettuce or cabbage leaves

— sliced cucumber

— lime wedges

Method

1 — Toasted Rice Powder

1
Toast raw jasmine rice in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6-8 minutes until deep golden and nutty-smelling. Cool completely, then grind to a coarse powder in a spice grinder or mortar. Set aside.
2
Combine fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chili flakes. Stir until sugar dissolves. The dressing should taste aggressively salty, sour, and spicy — it will balance once mixed with chicken.

2 — Dressing

1
Heat a wide skillet over medium-high with no oil. Add ground chicken and break it up with a spoon. Cook just until no pink remains — do not brown it. You want moist, pale, loosely-textured meat. Drain any excess liquid if significant pooling occurs.

3 — Cook Chicken

1
Remove from heat. Immediately add dressing and 2 Tbsp toasted rice powder. Toss thoroughly — the residual heat helps the dressing absorb.
2
Fold in shallots, most of the mint, cilantro, and scallions. Reserve some herbs for garnish.

4 — Dress & Finish

1
Taste and adjust: more lime if flat, more fish sauce if underseasoned, more chili if underwhelming. Serve at room temperature in lettuce cups with cucumber and lime wedges. Dust with remaining rice powder at the table.

Nutritionper serving · 1/4 of recipe (approx. 200g)

310kcal

36gProtein

12gCarbs

12gFat

3gSat Fat

980mgSodium

Nutrition estimate based on USDA FoodData Central data for ground chicken thigh (cooked), fish sauce, lime juice, and jasmine rice. Sodium is high primarily due to fish sauce (~700mg per serving) — if you're managing sodium, reduce fish sauce to 2 Tbsp and add a pinch of salt to compensate for flavor balance. Carbs come primarily from the toasted rice powder (~6g) and shallots (~4g). Fat reflects thigh meat only — ground chicken breast would drop fat to ~5g but degrades texture significantly.